|
Abstract:
|
Muscles are organs whose primary function is to produce force and motion. There are three types of muscles: skeletal (striated), smooth and hart muscles. Skeletal muscles are attached to bones and can move them voluntarily.
There are many daily activities which occur over an extended period of time and during which performances of muscles can be reduced (reduction of maximal force, contraction speed, movement control, etc). Although numerous mathematical models of muscles have been developed, there are only few models which take into account muscle fatigue. Most of the existing muscle fatigue models consider muscle fatigue under specific conditions only.
Motivated by the fact that the existing muscle fatigue models are very limited under arbitrary conditions of activation and loading, we here present a new model including muscle fatigue. The proposed model is based on Hill’s phenomenological model consisting of contractile, serial and parallel elastic elements, but now using a fatigue curve under maximal activation and recovery curve as input parameters, in order to predict muscle response under arbitrary loading conditions. Furthermore, an extension of Hill’s model is introduced, in order to take into account different fiber types. Various types of muscle fibers can have very different physiological and mechanical properties, significantly affecting their resistance to fatigue. The developed models are incorporated into the finite element software PAK.
The proposed models are verified by comparing the calculated results with experimental measurements and data from literature. By computer modeling of human biceps and triceps muscles, as well as the frog gastrocnemius muscle, it is shown that the models can predict behavior of real muscles with satisfactory precision. Besides application to single muscles, the proposed models can be used for computer simulations of complex musculoskeletal systems.
In order to provide efficient modeling of muscles and musculoskeletal systems, a software for automatic muscle generation using medical images has been developed, as well as a module for result post-processing by employing various types of graphs.
The proposed models and the developed software can be used as a very powerful tool in designing medical and sport equipment, planning trainings and analyzing exercises. Computer simulations based on the muscle mechanical models can prevent work injuries and significantly reduce costs for individuals and society. |